Feeding mechanism for bottle capping machines



Feb. 24, 1942. E. G. BAUM 2,274,583.

FEEI J ING MECHANISM FOR BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINES Original Filed Feb. 5; 1936 r 4 Sheets-Sheet l in [4" W 4 z/ i if J I o. m I z; [w J I II I J/ l m m l H I I r M I //'l M J II I 1 M f/v Jiwffi @jmfl Aim Feb. 24, 1942. E. G. BAUM 2,274,583

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINES Original Filed Fb. 5, 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 P if h 1 nnnnna-nnnnnkn \MWAREK': H

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Feb; 24, @942. v E. G. BAUM 2,274,583

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR BOTTLE CAPPING MACHINES 1 Original Filed Feb. 5, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet s o W M 1469 ill I In Feb. 24, 1942.v Y G U 2,274,583

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR BOTTLE GAPPING MACHINES 7 Original Filed Feb. 5, 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 /4 L I I %g WWMWWW \mmwmm Patented Feb. 24, 1942 FEEDING MECHANISM FOR BOTTLE a H CAPPING MACHINES" E w'ald Gf-Baum, Natick, Mass; assignor to Amer.- icanf ,Sealf-Kap Corporation of .Delaware, Wilmington, Del., a corporation of Delaware Original application February 5;, 1936, Serial No.

62,469. .Divided, and thisapplication .ber- 2,1939; SerialNo. 307,293.

Decem- This inventionrelates to; thecapping of bottles,

and more particularly to those in which milkand cream are commonly sold. One object of the invention is to. form the cap; directly 'on. the

bottle from materials-which can be, packed for shipment in convenient and compact form so that; they may be shipped withggreateconomy, one feature of' the invention relating to the'feeding of these materials into proper relation to' each other andto the bottle-for "the capiifcrming and applying operations. V A further object'is to provide such a machine which will be responsive to the presence of a bottle'in order to be actuated.

To the accomplishment of theseobjects, as may later appear each cap as dc"- livered to the capping machine comprises '23 piece, preferably a disk of suitable material-such as waterproof paper having a margins'o treated that it maybe applied about and conformed to the outside wall of the bottlebelow its mouth and after having been so conformed will retain and" other vention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawingsinwhich' Figures 1 and .2 are side. elevation and, top

plan views, respectively, of the capping portion of a bottle f111ing and capping machine.

Figure 3; is a section on line 33 of Figure 1. If Figures 4 and 5. are detail sections on lines 4-4 and 5-5, respectively, of Figure 3,. r

Figure .6 is a section to a larger scale of, the

, machineonline 6- 6 of Figure 2 and showing no bottle? mechanism.

. Figures 7,8 and 9 are fragmentary elevations ofparts-shown in Figure 6, Figures '7 and 8.showits-shape, sealing ofl thecontents ofthe bottle and protecting the pouring lip'against the possibility of being contaminated in any way as long 1,

as the cap remains sealed theretofiIf desired; also, and preferably, a smaller disk such as is commonly used to close a milk bottle, may be superposed on the central portion of the larger disk to reinforce it and the two forced down tow,

geth'er against the internal annular ledge with which milk bottles are. ordinarily provided.

In order that the material for the caps maybe packaged economically the large pieces'or'disks "may be "partly cut from a strip which may. be i wound into acoil or roll: This coil may be unwound as'needed by the capping machine and the partially severed pieces completely severed successively as they are required. .The smaller disks are commonly completely out and'arranged in stacks from one end of which they are ree ing the lower-limit of motion of the capping mechanism with and without a bottle present, respectively, and Figure 9 showing the mechanism on the up stroke. l I Figure 10. is a detail section on line ill-Iii of Figure? but to a larger scale. I H

I Figuresll, 12 and 13 aresectionssimilar. to a portion of Figure 3,.but showing successive stages in the capping of abottle.

v Figure 14 is a view partly in section and artly in sideelevation showing the cap feedingmecha nism; initsinner position.

3 Figure l5 is a fragmentary perspective shoW- ing; the disk stri-pand its manner of feeding.

'Cizp forming and applying mechanism Referring first to Figure 1 atl isindicateda platform for suppprting bottles to be ca ped.

I This may-bethe bottle-supporting platform of a well known form of a bottle fillingand capping machine, known. commercially as the Milwaukee filler. These machines are provided witha pair of. stationaryposts or rods .2 upstanding theremoved as required and they may be suppliedso packaged for use with the machine of this invention;

In order that the margins of the larger disks shall remain in close engagement with the bottle necks after having been conformed thereto by the capping machine, they .may' be. suitably treated',and if desired, by material which may be temporarily softened in the capping machine in order to facilitatetheir'conformation to the bottle; The machine may therefore be provided with suitable cap-softening means. For a more'co'mplete understanding of thisin:

from in spacedrelation to which may be adjustably clamped stationary portions of a bottle cappingmachine and between these posts 2 is positionedan axially movable upright .bar or rod 3. which is reciprocated to efiect capping and bottle-releasing operations. Applied to. these rods; 2 and 3 are the stationary. and actuating portions. of the cappingmechanism of this invention. The stationary parts comprise a. pair of bracket arms 4. each having an integral sleeve portion 5 whichmay be secured at the. desired elevation rigidly to the bars-2, as by means of the clamp nuts 6 secured to "suitable clamp screwsiin a mannerwell known in the art. The bracket arm 4, as shown, Supports apair of capping mechanisms so that" two bottles may be capped simultaneously as is usual practice with such machines, although of course any other number desired 'might be employed. Each vent complete withdrawal of the rod l3 upwardly through the plug |2.

A bracket I5 is secured in any suitable way to the upper portion of the actuating rod 3, this rod being provided with slots l6 at suitable intervals to selectively receive securing means by which the bracket I5 may be fixed in the desiredposition with respect to the rod 3. As shown in Figure 6, this securing means may comprise a plug having a fin H! which may be projected into any selected slot by means of a spring l9 reacting between the plug l1 and a stationary plug 20 secured in the outer end of a socket 2| in which the plug I1 is slidable. A rod 22 having an eye 23 at its outer end to form a handle'may be passed through a central opening in the plug 20 and be secured as by threading into the plug so that by pulling outwardly on the eye portion 23 the plug may be released from the notch l6 to permit the bracket [5 to be moved axially of the rod 3.

The bracket l5 has a pair of arms 25 and 26 projecting therefrom. The arm 25 is provided with a sleeve portion 21 through which the rod l3 extends. The upper end of this rod l3 has fixed thereto a collar 28, and a collar 29 is se-, cured to the rod |3 below the sleeve 21. Surrounding the rod l3 between the sleeve 21 and the collar 28 is a coil spring 30, and surrounding the rod l3 between the collar 29 and the top of the plug |2 is a spring 3|. Descent of the bracket I5, therefore, from the position shown in Figure 1, acts to depress the rod |3 positively and through the spring 3| to depress the sleeve yieldingly. Slidable within the sleeve II is a hollow plunger 35 having a flange 36 at its upper end which may ride between the plug l2 and an annular shoulder 31 on the inner wall of the sleeve ll spaced somewhat below the plug l2. The lower end of the plunger 35 is closed oil as by a head portion 40, and seated on the upper end of this head portion is a coil spring 4| which is contained within the hollow central portion 42 of the plunger 35 and which bears against the lower end of the head I4, which is slidably guided in the portion 42.

Slidable between the outer face of the plunger 35 and the inner wall of the sleeve H is a sleeve 45, the lower end of which is formed as an annular clamp 46 which may be brought down to press sheet-capping material, as at 41. against the top of the bottle mouth 48 of the milk bottle 49 positioned therebeneath. Above the clamping portion 46 this sleeve 45 is provided on one side with a slot 50 through which disks, such as the usual cardboard disks commonly used for capping milk bottles. may be fed in to the interior of the sleeve 45 beneath the plunger head 40. A coil spring 5| reacts between the lower face of the plunger head 36 and the upper face of an annular socket 52 in the upper end of the sleeve 45 and yieldingly holds the sleeve 45 to its down.- ward limit of motion provided by an internal annular shoulder 54 on the sleeve II with which engages a shoulder 55 of the sleeve 45. Outwardly of the sleeve II is vertically slidable thereon a sleeve 60. Its upper end is formed to closely and slidably embrace the sleeve H at 6|,

and below this point it is of larger internal diameter to house a coil spring 62 which reacts between the portion BI and an upper annular clamping member 63 secured to the lower end of the sleeve II, as by a threaded joint at 64. The lower end of the sleeve 60 carries a lower annular clamping element 65 which is depressed toward the clamping element 63 by the spring 62. This 1 clamping element 65 is shown as provided with a flaring annular internal face 66 which may be projected over the bottle mouth during the capping operation, as shown in Figures 3 and 11, to

' guide the bottle mouth into proper position.

the plug I2, the sleeve H with the parts carried thereby is also held in elevated position so that the bottle 49 may be moved beneath it as shown in Figures 1 and 6. 'In this position of the parts the disk 10 may be in position within the clamping sleeve 45 opposite to the slot 50 through which it was inserted, and in this position of the parts, also, the upper end of the sleeve 60 has impinged on the lower face of the bracket 4 and been stopped thereby, while the sleeve carrying the upper clamp element 63 has been further raised to separate the clamping elements 63 and 65 so that a piece of sheet material larger than the disk I0 may be placed therebetween as shown in Figure 14. This is the position of the parts when the bottle is placed in position for capping as in Figures 1 and 6. As the rod 3 is depressed for a capping operation, the sleeve II is moved downwardly under increasing pressure of the spring 3|, bringing the upper clamping element 63 downwardly to clamp the sheet material II against the lower clamping element 65, as shown in Figure 3, and the sleeve 45 is brought down toward the-bottle top until it engages the sheet material and presses it thereagainst as shown in Figure 11, whereupon further downward motion of the clamping sleeve 45 is stopped. Further downward motion of the rod l3 acts with the increasing pressure of the spring 4| to depress the plunger 35, forcing the disk 1i] ahead of it and into contact with the uper face of the sheet material II, and on further downward movement of this plunger, the disk 10 superposed on the piece II, is forced into the mouth of the bottle and seated against its annular internal shoulder 12, the sheet material 1| being pulled inwardly beneath the clamping sleeve 45 and from between the clamps 63 and 65. The parts are then in the position shown in Figure 12, the plunger 35 in the lower portion of its stroke engaging on the shoulder 31 of the sleeve II and carrying this sleeve, together with the annular clamping members 63 and 65 with it, thus freeing the marginal portion of the sheet material I.

Further depression of the rod [3 acts through the spring 3| to carry the sleeve ll further downwardly and causes a series of wiping elements 15 carried thereby to wipe down the marginal portion of the sheet material about the mouth of the bottle, completely covering the pouring lip at its top and engaging the sheet material beneath its flaring rim or top portion 16, thus to complete the application of the disk 10 and the sheet material H to the bottle mouth. The rod 3 is then moved upwardly, raising the bracket l5 and acting through the spring 30 to lift the sleeve H with the parts caramgtss ried thereby, and permitting these partsvto return to the positions shown :in- Figure 14.-

In order to. facilitate the wiping'of thegsheet' II about the top of the. bottle, the clamp pele ments 63 and 65 may be provided with radially arranged serrations I8 which actto define fold lines for the sheet material.

The: first downward motion of theclamping elements-63 and 65 thereafter actsto-bend the. margins of the piece 'II downwardly. The disk 10b'eing.:superposed inthe central portion of-the sheet; II, which as shown is of disk form butv of. larger diameter than the disk I0, thev two are pressed inwardly against the bottle ledge, whilevtheaction of they wiping elements conforms to the margin of the Diece'II to the bottle top. Thecentral portion of the element "II" within the;

area of the mouth, and reinforced by the disk 10,,

closes the bottle, while the remainder oi the element II is conformed to and about the pouring;

lip and the outer face of the bottle -adjacent;

to its mouth.

' Cap strip'feed this may also be supported by a bracket I62 and a link I 63 from the table I, aslot I64 in the link I 63 permitting vertical adjustment of: thebracket 4 as desired, to suit the height of the" bottles being capped.

. Cap disk feeding mechanism The actuating bracket I5 has'on the outerendof its arm 26 aisleeve 200 slidablyengaging a cap feeding actuating rod 201, there being one. of these rods I for each capping device. A collar 202 is fixed to the upper end of each of of thestrip of elements II, and as the slide is moved to feed. a disk from the reservoir I50, it also feeds the strip of elements II. in the guideway 228.. Retractive motion of the strip on reverse motion of the slide 2I5 is prevented by'abutments 230 projecting upwardly from the guide 228 and presenting inclined or sloping faces 23I- to the forward passage of an element 'II and abrupt shoulder portions 232 to the rear edge portions of an element II. On each cappingmotion of the bracket I5 the sleeve 200 descends, and through its pressure on the spring 205, rocks the lever 208 and the arm 2I0 to retract the feed slide 2I5. On each upward motion of the member 25 the feed slide remains in its outer position until contact is made with the collar 203, whereupon further upward motion normally produces a feed stroke of the slide 2I5 when all the cap-applying parts are in proper position to receive the [disks I0 and II. I

Means are provided, however, by which, should no bottle be in position beneath the clamping device on a capping. stroke so that the disks would not be applied to a bottle and thus removed with it: on the up-stroke, whereby on thenext upward stroke of the cap-applying mechanism the feed slide is inoperative to feed other disks and elements 1| to the capping mechanism. To this end. the upper arm 208 is provided with an extension 24I, which, when no bottle has been present; is held'beneath a locking dog 242 pivoted as at 243 to the portion I50. This locking .dog 242 may be retained in either of two angular the rods 20!, and a collar 20-3is slidable there on and is normally held pressed against? the upper endof the sleeve 200, as by means or a coil spring 204. The sleeve; 200: rests on the up per end of a spring 205', the lower end of which is seated against a shoulder 206 formed on the lower bifurcated end 20.! of the rod'20 I. This bifurcated portion 20:! is pivoted to one end of an arm 208 fixedto a rock shaft 209' carried by the stack supply I50, and on opposite sides thereof arms 2I0 are carried by this rock' shaft. The lower ends of the arms 210 are slotted as at 2| I to take over a pin 2.I2 which extends through a feed slide 2I5.

This feed slide, as shown best in Figure 3,1 is movable along a track 220 and is provided with a plate 22I which is slidable beneath the open lower end of the stack support I 50, so thaton the inward motion of the slide it takes the lowest disk in-the stack and moves it from thestackit permits the stack to descend to present, the

lowest disk thereon into position to beqengaged on the next feeding movement ofithe; slide..- The. slide 2I5 also carries a feed dog. 225whaving a serrated foot 226 whiehrests. on theupper face- .positions as by meansofa spring ball detent or dog. at. 244 (see Figure 10) which may engage -in either, of a pair of depressions 245 and 246 over the bottle mouth, and by the engagement of thefiange. 3 1 of the plunger 35 against the upper end of the sleeve 45, and this plunger in turn,

against the plug I2, as is shown substantially in Figure 13. At this lower limit of motion the roller 249 engages the shoulder portion 255 of thecam tail 248, thus holding the dog 242 out of the path of motion of the portion 24I of the lever 208, or, if the dog was not previously in this position, moving it thereto as shown in Figure '7. On thenext upstroke of the capping mechanism, therefore, there is nothing to prevent the feeding; motion of the cap slide. so that the mechanism functions in its normal manner. If, however, no bottle has been in capping position, the sleeve I I is permitted a downward motion further than its normal limit into the position shown in Figure 8, whereupon. the roller 249 is brought down against the. portion 255 of the stop dog, forcing it into the position shown in Figure 8 where it obstructs the motion of the arm 208, and thus prevents the cap-feeding. motion on the succeeding; retraction of the bracket I5, the final portion of this retraction being expended in compressing the spring 204. On the next downward motion of the capping mechanism, when this mechanism approaches: the normal limit, as when a-bottle is present, the roller 249 engaging on the-tail 248, moves the dog out of engagement withthe portion 24I, but if this downward motion is prolonged, as when no bottle is present, it immediately returns the dog to obstructing position as shown in Figure 8. Upward motion of the capping mechanism is ineffective to move the dog since the roller 249 is permitted to be depressed, rocking the lever 250 away from the stop 252, the ball detent holding the dog against the relatively small pressure necessary to effect the rocking of the lever 250 as shown in Figure 9.

From the foregoing description of certain em bodiments of this invention, it should be evident to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications might be made without departing from the spirit or scope of this invention as defined by the appended claims.

This application is a division of my application Serial No. 62,469, filed February 5, 1936, for Apparatus for capping bottles, which on February 13, 1940, eventuated into Patent No. 2,190,509.

I claim:

1. A machine of the class described, comprising a bottle support, a capping mechanism movable toward and from said support to cap a bottle thereon and to retract therefrom and be stopped in its capping motion by said bottle when in capping position, means including a yielding element actuable to feed a cap on the retraction of said mechanism, a member movable between a position preventing the actuation of said feeding means and a position permitting the actua tion of said feeding means, an element movable with said mechanism for controlling the position of said member and operatively engaging said member, said element having a portion operatively engaging said member only when said mechanism moves beyond normal capping position as when no bottle is present to move said member into said preventing position, whereby on retraction of said mechanism from said position beyond normal capping position no cap is fed into cap ping position for a succeeding capping actuation of said mechanism.

2. A machine of the class described, comprising a bottle support, a capping mechanism movable toward and from said support to cap a bottle thereon and to retract therefrom and V be stopped in its capping motion by said bottle when in capping position, means including a yielding element actuable to feed a cap into operative relation to said mechanism on the retraction of said mechanism, a cap supply support, a member mounted on said supply support for movement from and toward a position preventing the actuation of said feeding means, and an element carried by said mechanism in position to engage said member on motion of said mechanism beyond normal capping position as when no bottle is present and to move said member to said preventing position.

3. A machine of the class described, comprising a bottle support, a capping mechanism movable toward and from said support to cap a bottle thereon and to retract therefrom and be stopped in its capping motion by said bottle when in capping position, means including a yielding element actuable to feed a cap into operative relation to said mechanism on the retraction of said mechanism, a cap supply support, a member mounted on said supply support for movement from and toward a position preventing the actuation of said feeding means, and an element carried by said mechanism in position to engage said member on motion of said mechanism beyond normal capping position as when no bottle is present and to move said member to said prevailing position, said element and member having-parts engaging, on descent of said mechanisni toward normal capping position and moving said member out of preventing position.

4; A machine of the class described, comprising a bottle support, a capping mechanism movable toward and from said support to cap a bottle thereon and toretract therefrom and be stopped in its capping motion by said bottle when in capping position, means including a yielding elementactuable to feed a cap into operative relation 'to'said mechanism on the retraction of said mechanism, a cap supply support, a member mounted on said supply support for movement from and toward a position preventing the actuation of said feeding means, an element carried by'said mechanism in position to engage said member on motion of said mechanism beyond normal capping position as when no bottle is present and to move said member to said preventing position, said element and member having parts engaging, on descent of said mechanismtoward normal capping position, and moving said member out of preventing position, and latch means yieldingly holding said member in or out of preventing position.

' 5. A machine of the class described, comprising a bottle support, a capping mechanism movable toward and from said support to cap a bottle thereon and to retract therefrom and be stopped in its capping motion by said bottle when in capping position, means including a yielding element actuable to feed a cap on the retraction of said mechanism, said feeding means including a movable part, a member mounted for movement intoand out of the path of motion of said part and when in said path of motion preventing actuation of said feeding means, said member having a pair of parts, and an element movable With said mechanism in position to engage one of said member partswhen said member is in preventing position to move said member out of preventing position by movement of said mechanism innormal extent of capping motion of said mechanism and to engage the other of said member parts when said mechanism moves beyond saidnormal capping motion to move said member into preventing position as when no bottle to. be capped is in. capping relation to said mechanism.

6. Amachine of the class described, comprisinga bottlesupport, a capping mechanism movable'toward and from said support to cap a bottle thereon and to retract therefrom and be stopped in its capping motion by said bottle when in capping'position, means including a yielding element actuable to feed a cap on the retraction of said mechanism, said feeding means including a movable part, a member mounted for movement into and out of the path of motion of said part and when in said path of motion preventing actuation of said feeding means, said member having a pair of parts, an element movable with said mechanism in position to engage one of said member parts when said member is in preventing position to move said member out of preventing position by movement of said mechanism in norm'alextent of capping motion of said mechanism and to engage the other of said member partswhen' said mechanism moves beyond said normal capping motion to move said member into'preventing position as when no bottle to be capped is in capping relation to said mechanism, and means supporting said element to yield on retraction of said mechanism to inoperative position.

7. A machine of the class described, comprising a bottle support, a capping mechanism movable toward and from said support to cap a bottle thereon and to retract therefrom and be stopped in its capping motion by said bottle when in capping position, means including a yielding element actuable to feed a cap on the retraction of said mechanism, said feeding means including a movable part, a member mounted for movement into and out of the path of motion of said part and when in said path of motion preventing actuation of said feeding means, said member having a pair of parts, an element movable with said mechanism in position to engage one of said member parts when said member is in preventing position to move said member out of preventing position by movement of said mechanism in normal extent of capping motion of said mechanism and to engage the other of said member parts when said mechanism moves beyond said normal capping motion to move said member into preventing position as when no bottle to be capped is in capping relation to said mechanism, means supporting said element to yield on retraction of said mechanism to inoperative position, and latching means for yieldingly retaining said member in or out of preventing position.

EWALD G. BAUM. 

